A take-out device for glass bottle molding machines, to transfer semifinished products from the pre-mold to the finish mold and/or the finished product (bottle) from the molding machine to a conveyor line, is known, for example, from GB2182297, is normally supported by positioning means movable along three axes, and comprises a support with drive means; a first arm fitted in rotary manner to the support and rotated by the drive means; and a second arm hinged idly at an angle to the first and rotated synchronously with the first arm by a toothed belt-pulley mechanism housed inside the first arm and in turn operated by rotation of the first arm by means of a shaft coaxial with the first-arm rotation member, normally defined by a hollow shaft, but fitted immovably to the support. The end of the second arm fitted with the grippers thus keeps the bottles vertical at all times as the first arm rotates about a horizontal axis.
Though satisfactory, a device of the type described may be subject to accidental collision with other nearby devices on the molding machine, e.g. pushers, cooling heads, collar arms, etc., which normally operate in strict synchronization with the take-out arm and along frequently interfering paths, but which, for various reasons or improper adjustment, may sometimes drift out of sync and collide with the take-out device.
As a result, the component parts of the take-out device—especially the mechanism operating the second arm in sync with the first, and the drive means fitted to the support—may become damaged or at least be knocked out of sync, thus resulting in costly machine stoppages.